News from the Front
by Lunar Fang Feredir
Summary: Rays of light and energy cast by Ivan started feeding on Ichigo's bankai whilst he called out in agony.In attempt to stop the assault, Ichigo swings his blade and breaks the attack while unleashing a getsuga towards his opponent! Continuing from chap. 483
1. The Endless Moon

Hello there! This first chapter is really start, but it's just a taste! I don't have much to add, but I look forward to your opinions. I'll continue it regardless, so don't worry, I won't metaphorically 'hold you hostage'. ;)

Ofcourse ^that^ only applies to people that actually like it.

Name is based on the song from Bad Religion, which is stated to be Ichigo's original 'theme song'.

Disclaimer: Bleach is owned by Kubo Tite

I take no credit for the original characters and likewise for any other elements, except for that which I have written myself. Yadda yadda yadda~ :)

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><p><em>Rays of light and energy cast by Ivan started feeding on Ichigo's bankai whilst he called out in agony. <em>

_In attempt to stop the assault, Ichigo swings his blade and breaks the attack while unleashing a powerful getsuga tenshou towards his opponent, whose visage gets engulfed in the wrecking, unstable dark energy, devoured by the blackness as well as bubbles of smoke generated by the attack_

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><p>Smoke, mixed with the torrents of violent dark energies unleashed by a Getsuga Tenshou that filled the air and caused nearby miniscule shockwaves to roll in waves over the curb covered at least the entirety of the street.<p>

The effect of the explosive attack left an impression on the orange-haired substitute shinigami's face, as well as inside his mind, observing the streets below him with the careful, yet slow cast of his vigilant gaze.

Taking a deep, labored intake of breath, his body dissolved from its spot, leaving only the faint sound of a buzz to fill the emptiness his shunpo left for but a split second.

He stepped skillfully over the distorted air that seemed to heave and creak underneath his covered feet. He was right in front of the smokescreen and he seemed particularly unimpressed when he narrowed his eyes in seriousness and swiped his left, bare hand from right to left in a horizontal motion while proclaiming in a soft but yet careless seeming tone: "I know that didn't kill you..", right before the smoke and sparking remains of his pitch black reiatsu subsided, the smoke itself seeming to split in two and force free a path of vision for Ichigo, in the same shape of the arm he had not long ago swept away dismissively.

"But whether or not you are is superficial. Leave."

The peculiar figure – known as Ivan Azgiaro – seemed genuinely shocked, his eyes widened for a moment before a wicked smirk cracked itself on his face.

"'Get off that bed', 'I don't know who you are, but get off that bed', 'Leave'. Hah! How can you be so confident?", the figure - that appeared to be the vile mixture of quincy and arrancar powers – spat venomously, realizing that he was displaying a fair deal of frustration at the substitute shinigami's nonchalance.

"Stop citing me already..", Ichigo groaned in response while scratching the back of his head and ruffling his thick, disheveled hair and part of his neck in a failed attempt to hide his minor annoyance.

Ivan started to snicker as he placed the palm of his hand to the left half side of his face, almost touching the hollow-like bony mask fragments when a crazed grin locked upon his face, "I just can't take it..", he remarked lowly throughout a low sniggering sound before a burst of madness compelled a loud rise of his voice, "I can't take it. Make me, Kurosaki! Make me stop! I'll show you that I'll rip you to shreds before you come close! So what, you managed to break my spell and save your bankai?"

Looking back at his damaged left arm, he noticed that the twin, bony fullbring-created lines that shaped a cross over that arm were broken and that the attire was shredded partially, he then looked back at the questionable man, still not having ascertained that it is an arrancar, or if it might actually be a quincy.

"You're too lax, Kurosaki, shouldn't you 'finish this within an instant', wisenheimer?', the seeming arrancar-quincy hybrid person remarked with a smirk as he arched his back and bowed over. Pleased by using Ichigo's own quotes against him.

The referred shinigami-substitute tightened the grip on his pitch black blade's handle as he straightened his back, analyzing the Azgiaro-person for a moment longer.

"Shut up."

The orange-haired ex-punk clenched the fingers of his unused left hand outward, giving it a somewhat clawed appearance. He raised it so that the palm faced his chin.

He closed his eyes and quirked his brows.. and..

"I really don't understand people like you that ramble off like that like it's a sport! Can't you be silent for a moment and not mock the opponent whose house you rudely invaded?", he preached, "- your kind really pisses me off! I don't care if you're stronger or weaker, I don't care about anything trivial like that, but at least shut your damned mouth when you face an opponent."

Ivan Azgiaro's smirk grew more than humanely possible as he responded rather calmly, in contrast to before, "Hah.. I wasn't talking about that. You really don't think that if I am to oppose a shinigami, I will do that alone? You really must be dense to assume that. No.. the end is nearing, Kurosaki. 'The Grand Termination' has already started in Soul Society. Starting with the Vice-Captains.."

A wave of coldness crept over Ichigo's entire spiritual body, freezing him to the core with just those words. His eyes widened and it felt as if he had been stabbed in the gut at least twenty times and he was gasping for breath.

A globule of sweat trickled down from his temple to his chin. Within an instant, he felt as cold as if waves of Hyourinmaru's ice had encased him, and as warm as if he was being burnt to a crisp by old gramp's Ryuujin Jakka at the very same time.

"More importantly.. shouldn't you make sure that Kuchiki Rukia is safe?"

It did not go unnoticed to Ivan – the way Ichigo's tight, vice-like grip on his bankai devolved into a shaky, soft bold excuse for an actual grasp.

'I took the liberty of making sure they prioritize her.', Ivan grinned again, but lost his confident, sadistic smirk when his orange-haired opponent disappeared from sight.

He looked around.

Up.

Down.

_For some reason I cannot trace his reiatsu anymore._

Left.

Right.

It was then that Ivan Azgiaro looked over his shoulder, and noticed the shinigami substitute in a kneeling position, with his blade as low as he could with his back towards him. As if he had swung it. For some reason, the blade leaked its familiar pitch black reiatsu, but only in miniscule, almost unrecognizable chunks.

_What is this pain that is suddenly welling up inside of my body?.._

Before he was able to comment on it, a diagonal gap separated his body, leading from the utmost upper right part of his head, to his left toe.

Blood clouded his vision and covered his gloves and his prestigious white clothes. It was then that he had realized that he had been taken advantage of and cut into two without being able to even sense – let alone see – the blade's swing.

'What.. is..'

The gap grew as flesh and bones separated in a late reaction to the fatal attack. The blood only helped to separate the two, previously attached parts of his body as he fell on the ground, split in two.

For some reason, his vision cleared up, and he was able to remain stable for a few more moments, enough for him to catch the shinigami substitute glancing over his own shoulder, with a grotesque, skull-like hollow mask covering his face and two dark, unnatural yellow eyes peeking from in between two sockets, they were bathing in the oceans of pitch black darkness that were his sclera.

"Don't even joke about that.", the hybrid shinigami stated in a concluding manner. His voice distorted by a buzz and maddening echo.


	2. Shatter the Glass Illusion

And a new chapter. I have not much to comment on, so I'll just let you read as I begin on the next chapter. :)

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><p>darisu-chan: I am glad to have been able to steal your idea-<p>

Just kidding. In fact, this idea has been on my mind ever since Ivan showed up, and another IchiRuki fanfic that will be less canonically tied that I will submit as soon as I can post atleast the first 4 chapters from the get-go, which will take place directly after the Fullbring arc without the current plot of Ivan Azgiaro and the Vandenreich.

As for the hollow dilemma. I myself am not sure, but many hints seem to point towards his hollow powers still being with him, such as the fact that Zangetsu was always both Shirosaki/Ogichi and Zangetsu in one. Ichigo is also depicted on one of the new color pages with a hoodie with a part of the material draped over his left eye with hollow markings and eyes. I also think back in the Ichigo v.s. Ginjou fight, if I remember well - that Ginjou said: "I have a hollow inside me too." to which Ichigo replied with "I see.." and then swung his new Tensa Zangetsu downwards in the same motion his horned hollow form in the fight against Ulquiorra did, which caused a shockwave.

Lastly, the innate type of Fullbring powers, which changed Ichigo's shikai and bankai form (the crosses over his clothes and the collar and tattoo-like additions) are Fullbring created, or so they are said to be. So it'd be almost impossible to say that he has no hollow powers at all, since Fullbring stems from hollow power.

To make it simple, in this story - he does have his hollow, if Kubo comes round denying that Shirosaki/Ogichi/his innate hollow powers are gone forever.

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><p><em>Ivan Azgiaro looked over his shoulder, and noticed the shinigami substitute in a kneeling position, with his blade as low as he could with his back towards him. As if he had swung it. For some reason, the blade leaked its familiar pitch black reiatsu, but only in miniscule, almost unrecognizable chunks.<em>

_What is this pain that is suddenly welling up inside of my body?.._

_Before he was able to comment on it, a diagonal gap separated his body, leading from the utmost upper right part of his head, to his left toe._

_Blood clouded his vision and covered his gloves and his prestigious white clothes. It was then that he had realized that he had been taken advantage of and cut into two without being able to even sense – let alone see – the blade's swing._

_'What.. is..'_

_The gap grew as flesh and bones separated in a late reaction to the fatal attack. The blood only helped to separate the two, previously attached parts of his body as he fell on the ground, split in two._

_For some reason, his vision cleared up, and he was able to remain stable for a few more moments, enough for him to catch the shinigami substitute glancing over his own shoulder, with a grotesque, skull-like hollow mask covering his face and two dark, unnatural yellow eyes peeking from in between two sockets, they were bathing in the oceans of pitch black darkness that were his sclera._

_"Don't even joke about that.", the hybrid shinigami stated in a concluding manner. His voice distorted by a buzz and maddening echo._

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><p>The two cleaved body parts fell from the sky with a devastating speed, almost unnoticably starting to disintegrate mid-air as Ivan made his last inner comments.<p>

His consciousness was already close to being completely gone, permanently.

".. Shit..", Ivan proclaimed as his last words while his eyes slowly glazed over and he plummeted to his death with a vast trail of blood following him.

Ichigo remained silent, uncaring for the ruthless death he gave the man, silent apart from the occasional hollowfied intake of breath, which boosted his voice with an extraterrestrial additional sound.

Slowly, his eyes started to regain their original warm brown color, together with the haze of darkness that covered his sclera like a fog that seemed to return back into the corners of his eyes.

Then and there, he almost collapsed. Or at least, he felt as if he was going to collapse.

Clutching his head which was pounding in pain, he tried to bring himself back on his feet. For some reason, his blade seemed exceptionally heavy. _Something's wrong. Why is Tensa Zangetsu so weighty?_

_And where is Ivan?_, Ichigo looked around with his hand on his forehead, as if it would nurse the pains in his head that just wouldn't cease to be.

_H'oi old man Zangetsu! What's going on?_, he called out in his mind, trying to reach his spiritual counterpart: the personification of his own powers.

The thumping feeling in his head suddenly jumpstarted into what seemed like an explosion to him. He quickly placed both his hands on his forehead and keeled over while trying to retain his footing.

He stumbled back a few steps and the air seemed to crackle under his weight, making similar thumping sounds.

With the vast explosion came images, images that flooded in-and-through his head like a stray wave of salt seawater.

The substitute shinigami screamed as if his eyes were flaring without mercy, as if they were burning. The pain caused the grip on the handle of his sword to shake and waver just a moment before it completely disappeared and his blade fell down much like Ivan himself did, a few minutes ago. Or well.. what was left of Ivan.

"Aghaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!", he tightened his grip and opened his mouth as wide as he could. If it had changed the situation, he would –at this moment—happily stab his fingernails through his forehead, but it wouldn't help or change the situation.

Images of the spectacle just minutes ago, but also images of what was to come, or what had happened in the dimension in which he was currently not present: The Soul Society.

Or more like, what images his mind had created of Ivan's words.

Cruel, gore-filled images of Soul Society in ruins, that's what they were.

No, it was not an image anymore, it had become a setting. He was now living in these ruins of the formerly proud Soul Society.

He looked around in desperation, trying to find people, anyone!

_Where am I? Where is everyone? Dad! Zangetsu? Rukia?_ , Ichigo once more clutched his head, but this time he grasped his temples, as he scanned the area. He started to panic, _Uryuu? Chad? Inoue? Where are you?"_

In his ambiguous state, he realized that Zangetsu was not in his hands, worse even, he was nowhere to be seen.

The substitute shinigami stepped over pieces of broken rock and other signs of destruction and ruin, gazing fearfully at the sight of a completely wrecked Soul Society.

"It's horrible, is it not?", an echoing voice called from behind him, a familiar voice.

Unaware of the presence of his zanpakutou up until now, but extremely relieved,he turned around in surprise and yelled, "old man Zangets-"

It wasn't the old man, it was his bankai.

"I told you to call me Tensa Zangetu, did I not?", the young man corrected with a soft smirk, hovering over the ground only slightly, with his legs straightened and crossed across one another. He had crossed his arm and his wavy, dark hair was swinging along almost typically with the chaotic slams of the unforgiving cold, harsh wind. It was a wind mixed with the remnants of released Reiryoku.

"So much destruction, so much reishi-output that it merged with the wind?", Ichigo questioned as he scanned the area.

"So you noticed, Ichigo?", the younger counterpart of Ichigo's zanpakutou inquired as he stuck up his hand in the air, catching some of the spiritual particles that the wind delivered to the tip of his index finger, "In this desolated place, there is neither life nor death, there is only chaos. So much destruction has taken place here that the chain of life and death has been shattered completely and only this abstract, absolute ruin remains as a twisted reminder of the once blossoming, prideful dimension."

The mentioned shinigami looked around to Tensa Zangetu as his eyes narrowed, a certain fire burning in his eyes. The horror in his expression was still apparent, but he was starting to understand now what the reason for him being here was.

"So you want to show me what happens if-"

"If you fail?", Tensa Zangetsu continued while bowing his head down to blow away the fiery reishi particles on the tip of his finger, "No, Ichigo. Whether or not you fail is completely up to your choice. And as I recall, your choice is not to let Soul Society fall. You have the power, and everyone knows that."

"No, what I want you to do is realize, realize just all that you are."

The orange-haired hybrid merely raised a brow in confusion, "What for?"

"These powers of yours that allowed me to take a shape, they are not normal power. Everyone knows that, except for you."

Ichigo did the same, raising his brow once more, "I do know..", Ichigo replied, bothered by the once more abstract style of speech from his rebellious, spiritual counterpart.

"I don't think you do.", the young man stated as he stepped towards Ichigo, his long, ghastly dark garb started to engulf his body, and he changed towards every opponent Ichigo had faced up until now. In the end Tensa Zangetsu had disappeared and Aizen was now standing infront of Ichigo, in Tensa Zangetsu's stead.

".. Aizen..", Ichigo growled through gritted teeth.

The molded form of the former betrayer of Soul Society had an arrogant grin plastered on his face, the one that pissed Ichigo off.

"Don't bark just yet, Kurosaki Ichigo. You will be barking in the wind."

Aizen's long, white shihakusho faded and his visage was shown in its bound state, with black, shining leather wrapped around the entirety of the man's body, except for the single left eye that was uncovered, while the shihakusho he was previously wearing, that reminded Ichigo of how the traitor was dressed in Hueco Mundo just turned into condensed reishi and faded in the wind.

Ichigo's face seemed to twist in slight distaste as he saw Aizen's new outfit, quirking a brow.

"What is this?", Ichigo inquired with his brow risen the same way it was before, crossing his arms across his chest and narrowing his eyes.

"Aside from the shape of your doubts about my defeat that were edged into the core of your soul, I am also here because I know the truth."

"Which is?", Ichigo asked, trying to refrain from growling again. He scowled at the man in front of him whom was garbed, no, rather held bound by the leather, which at this phase had come surprisingly lose fitting to his standing form.

Ignoring the remark about the so-called doubts, he decided to dig deeper, rather than stop at any petty demeaning insults or comments the near-flawless image of Aizen would throw. In fact, if he did stop at those, he would be busy for a long time.

"You haven't changed at all, Kurosaki Ichigo. You're still as 'to-the-point' as you always were. I assume you also wish to still hide behind the pretense of despising me."

The aforementioned Kurosaki sighed deeply, placing the palm of his hand on the back of his neck, scratching the skin there. _I'm wasting my time with this._

"But first.. you'll have to defeat –me-. "

Ichigo's eyes widened as this "Aizen" told that a fight was a necessity between them.

"No way!", Ichigo declared, making a gesture with his hand to emphasize his disagreement.

The visage of Aizen began smirking widely and nearing in his leather-clad form, sticking out his right hand to the side as the green hilt of Kyoka Suigetsu began materializing before the rest of the familiar, infamous zanpakutou.

"You'll.. have no choice in the matter.".

Ichigo's eyes spurred open even more, "!"

_He's getting closer to me.. where is Tensa Zangetsu?_

"I-impossible..", the helpless shinigami proclaimed as the infamous traitor of Soul Society, or at least his visage got closer to him by the second.

"**Shatter.. Kyoka Suigetsu"**


	3. Black Mask, White Queen

Hey there again! I know I'm too slow.. TT_TT, I just want to keep it short because I am not going to make a TL;DR bigger than the chapter itself (I am quite satisfied with the length of each chapter because it gives enough opportunity for cliffhanger trolling whenever I want! Mu-ha-ha~~)

Anyway, I just wanted to add that any possible silent readers or basically anyone may start posting suggestions for things that should or should not(by any circumstances) happen in the story. Because I want to make it the least bit canonically possible, I'd like to keep the slightly more "cracky" (for a lack of better terms) additions out and focus on the most canonically plausible stuff. I do not mean to offend with this, because I have another IchiRuki fanfiction coming up that will be different, to which I can also add slightly more outlandish ideas.

Without further ado, please enjoy.

**EDIT**: Fixed some typos, added a recap from the last chapter and just wanted to warn you that this chapter, intentionally, is in first person (Ichigo's) view.

*scratches head* I was a bit too tired when I finished the last few parts of this chapter and uploaded it, I apologise for that.

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><p><em>You'll.. have no choice in the matter.".<em>

_Ichigo's eyes spurred open even more, "!"_

_He's getting closer to me.. where is Tensa Zangetsu?_

_"I-impossible..", the helpless shinigami proclaimed as the infamous traitor of Soul Society, or at least his visage got closer to him by the second._

_"**Shatter.. Kyoka Suigetsu"**_

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><p>"Aizen! Don't!"<p>

"If you are to reach your full potential again, you shall have to face the regrets that embedded themselves inside of your soul when you defeated me, which led to my sealing."

"Trade the rain for the white moon."

I did not quite understand what this avatar of Aizen was speaking about. I only knew my zanpakuto's oddly outspoken distaste for rain. I figured it was obvious that this was somehow connected to that, but who or what was this 'White Moon'? White? .. White..

_..White.._

My hollow? Impossible, he always served to make "the rain" worse in the many times he threatened me, in my past with him. This was a dispute that had long since been taken care of. In fact, back when we neared the conclusion of the 'Dangai Training'. Despite the "peace treaty", he could never be the secret avatar of my inner peace because every interaction with him in the past served to contradict that theory. It is true that both my hollow and Zangetsu were one and another, but that even made the theory of my hollow being this so called "White Moon" even more senseless.

So who was this.. "White Moon"?

I was puzzled and to make things worse, I suddenly had my zanpakuto, Zangetsu in its shikai state in my grip, whereas it was nowhere to be seen a mere minute ago. Were my senses to be trusted in this twisted, misleading and extremely warped dimension? Was this what I was even supposed to focus on.

_"It wasn't"_, I told myself in resignation, an answer forced by the visage of what used to be, or was supposed to be my nemesis.

"So how do you want to do this, and why?", I knew this was not Aizen talking, but something at my mind yet tugged at the notion that this was somehow still hyper-realistic, much like this view of a wrecked Soul Society.

Surprisingly, he only neared while raising his Kyoka Suigetu threateningly.

"**Shatter.. Kyoka**"

I gasped and flash stepped out of the way with my new, superior speed, hiding behind the crumbled remains of a building. I was not sure whether or not 'complete hypnosis' actually worked in this dimension, since this Aizen was not real, but if it did, then it meant witnessing its release would mean the battle is over.

Only one real thought went through my mind:

_I can __**not **__afford to take risks!_

"Rikujokoro"

My eyes bulged at the sound and I turned around in shock to see the yellow beams closing in on me.

A split second lateness rendered me incapacitated. Damn it..

The force sent me to my knees, and it was as if I was impaled by these six rods of pure yellow, if not golden energy. I looked up and saw the perpetrator. I looked him in the eyes, and I was scared. I was not shivering like a child, but it was worse.

The emotions of the visage I deemed unreal not long ago seeped into me. It was as if this person loathed me.

The sound of his zanpakuto grinding over the ground screeched loudly into my ears and I grunted instinctively at it, all the while unable to look away.

"I despise you, Kurosaki Ichigo.", he stated resolutely as he lifted his sword and placed the tip of the blade to my forehead, but I didn't flinch. I shared the same emotions with him now, as he did with me a mere moment ago.

"I despise you for being so lax, for having potential and not using it. Many are stuck at their limit, but you are not. In fact, it may be because your power possesses no literal boundary that you remain so laid-back, acting as if you can afford to get yourself beaten up while you swing around a rusty blade."

I took a deep breath and looked sideways at my blade which i'd dropped when the rays of light impaled me. I tried to bent over and reach for it, against my greater knowledge, and as I anticipated, the rods of light lodged into my body stopped me from making the slightest movement in that direction.

I looked back at this fake version of Aizen with an intense scowl, but stopped trying to resist, analyzing him, and I realized a flaw in this Aizen, he was way too overcome by frustration.

"You don't know Kido, you barely know how to sense or hide your own reiatsu, you sported an imperfect, forced bankai for the longest time. What can you even do?", the man screamed, reminiscent to his desperation before his sealing, and once more I looked away.

Noticing my denial, he quickly added, "You only know how to look away when you are scared of facing the truth and rely on the powers you fear and ignore to save you!"

Against my will, my head sunk and my flaring orange hair came to conceal my eyes.

"That may be so.. I may not be particularly good at anything, I may not..", my body started glowing luminously and my hand gripped one of the beams as I looked up at this clone of Aizen with an intense expression, "- I may not be worthy of defeating anyone I have defeated thus far, and I may have feared a part of myself up until long ago.. But all I know is that if I can.. I **WILL PROTECT!**", my words resounded loudly the dimension as the six rays of light that held me a prisoner crackled and shattered under the combined weight of my grip and reiatsu.

With the kido prison shattered, I stood up and arched over, clenching my right fist as heavy reiatsu erupted from my form.

"Im.. possible..", the man said in shock, as his eyes widened.

The visage gritted his teeth and readied Kyoka Suigetsu but he didn't expect my attack, and he was sent flying through several ruined buildings from the punch alone, with his zanpakuto shattered from the impact of the hit.

Releasing a growl that basked an echo that very much possessed evident traces of my hollow side in them, I copied a move that he had shown in the fight against Ulquiorra, by reaching out my right hand to Zangetsu and recalling it to my grasp.

With my zanpakuto in my hands, I gave chase.

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><p>In a futile attempt to use Kyoka Suigetsu to block the strike from my shikai, "Aizen" slammed against the crackled remains of a wall, which broke at direct impact, leaving Aizen to tumble backwards and collapse, looking up in shame as I looked at him decisively, brandishing my shikai with both hands.<p>

"Damn the luck..", this mock-Aizen said as his started to blur out and become transparent before unweaving and regressing to black energy that made a clear trail behind me, where my eyes met the silhouette of Tensa Zangetsu.

I looked down at what felt like an empty grip and found out that my zanpakuto was indeed gone.

The teenage representation of my soul clapped with the mixture of an arrogant grin and a soft smile, as far as I could spot because he was hiding most of his face under his trademark hood.

The reiatsu fully disappeared into Tensa Zangetsu's cloak and the aforementioned cloak straightened out and returned to its original shape.

"Well done, Ichigo. Now this was a rash reunion, but it is good to see you again", he stated as he raised his head, now clearly smiling at me with a paternal affection.

He then looked behind him and softly called out, "You can come out there, it's all over."

I blinked a few times in confusion, confusion that quickly cleared up as I noticed that a familiar pale person came closer to us, it was my alter ego.

"Yo, king! It's been a bit too long hasn't it?", he smirked as the reiatsu-mingled winds of the desolated Soul Society swept through his uncharacteristically long snow white hair.

I could not say his presence left me completely elated as it did when I saw Tensa Zangetsu again for the first time, but it felt relieving.

Then he reached to the side of his head, from which protruded two pitch black horns, he took them off and revealed that it was in fact a mask, the same I wore when I hollowfied after Ulquiorra had killed me.

"Oh, aren't you curious", he remarked with a wink as he noticed my quirked brows before he tossed the mask in my direction and I caught it after balancing the weight on my two hands a few times, commenting on the danger of the horns with faked anger much like I had back when I first met my hollow and Zangetsu threw a nondescript sword my way.

Tensa Zangetsu looked over at my bleached alter ego and quirked a single brow himself, "You're going to give him that? Are you really okay with that?", he followed up as he crossed two slender arms across eachother over his chest.

My hollow closed his eyes, arched over and just shrugged nonchalantly while his echoed voice tore through the dimension, "Yeah, well, I felt after that fight, that he kind of deserved it."

Focusing down at my mask while the two sides of mine seemed to argue with one another, which I didn't know because I wasn't listening to them, I noticed that the once black mask with white stripes was now in fact slowly turning into a white mask with black stripes.

The mask seemed to attract to me, as if it controlled me to put it on, I also looked cautiously at it and realized that there was a good reason my friends were frightened of this form because the skull-like structure and the added demonic horns made for a very menacing appearance.

Breaking out of my trance, I looked up at my hollow in confusion equal to that of my zanpakuto.

Shocked as I was, I stuttered..

"This is.."


	4. Pale Tresses, Dark Manes

**Sorrysorrrysorry for taking so long, I've just been so frustratingly busy. =(**

**It also seems that I am already deviating from the actual manga storyline.. a shame really.**

**I wish Kubo Tite and I could get along in our ideas about Bleach! (Just kidding, of course!)**

**That's about it.**

**Enjoy! :)**

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><p><em>"Oh, aren't you curious", my hollow remarked with a wink as he noticed my quirked brows before he tossed the mask in my direction and I caught it after balancing the weight on my two hands a few times, commenting on the danger of the horns with faked anger much like I had back when I first met my hollow and Zangetsu threw a nondescript sword my way.<em>

_Tensa Zangetsu looked over at my bleached alter ego and quirked a single brow himself, "You're going to give him that? Are you really okay with that?", he followed up as he crossed two slender arms across eachother over his chest._

_My hollow closed his eyes, arched over and just shrugged nonchalantly while his echoed voice tore through the dimension, "Yeah, well, I felt after that fight, that he kind of deserved it."_

_Focusing down at my mask while the two sides of mine seemed to argue with one another, which I didn't know because I wasn't listening to them, I noticed that the once black mask with white stripes was now in fact slowly turning into a white mask with black stripes._

_The mask seemed to attract to me, as if it controlled me to put it on, I also looked cautiously at it and realized that there was a good reason my friends were frightened of this form because the skull-like structure and the added demonic horns made for a very menacing appearance._

_Breaking out of my trance, I looked up at my hollow in confusion equal to that of my zanpakuto._

_Shocked as I was, I stuttered.._

_"This is.."_

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><p>The hollow's face contorted in that of irritation as he raised a finger to point at me with a wicked smirk, "Oi, if I didn't know any better, I'd assume you were ungrateful.."<p>

I held my entranced gaze in between where my hollow stood and the mask that I held in my hand, "But..", I quickly replied, but soon realized I did not know how to formulate a proper addition to that word and remained silent and brought my attention back to the mask, inspecting it thoroughly, noting that it very much appeared like fragile porcelain and while it held a profoundly dark and eerie, also powerful aura to it, it seemed to be wholly unfit for what I assumed was its job.

As if a vein sprung open on my hollowfied alter ego's head, he commented rather loudly, "Are you going to stare? Do you think it's meant to be some kind of decoration? Put it on!", adding a growl at the end of his sentence.

It made me smile when it dawned upon me that my hollow was actually, against my wish, much like me. _I was not going to admit I had temper tantrums as easily as he did, though._

I looked up into the eyes of my hollow, just now noticing his "command" and it made me quirk a brow, "I don't think that's a good idea..", I followed up, subconsciously confessing that the trauma that the "fight" against Ulquiorra left still remained, carved in my soul's core.

My hollow's eyes narrowed and he hissed at me, like a child that was pissed off at me for not doing what he wanted, "King..", his voice echoed as he threw me a faint glare, ".. just put it on."

I gritted my teeth out of slight fear but nevertheless gulped down that fear when Tensa Zangetsu looked my way and nodded confidently, trying to assure me that I would be all right.

I removed my gaze from both and looked back at the mask as I hesitantly put it closer to my face and when it was a few inches from my skin, it magnetically pulled itself towards my face and hooked on to it, unlike my normal hollow mask.

A sensation stung through my body, but it wasn't unpleasant or painful. I was quite honestly wondering what it was. _Power? No. It was euphoria.. mixed with power too.._

I looked down at my rapidly changing body with shock as it seemed to turn an unnatural, sickly pale and a small dot appeared in the center of my sternum, growing out in to what I identified as tattoos, but that was something I could not ascertain due to the garb of my bankai covering most of my body.

**"Crack.. scrghh.."**

My vision became blurry, and was that a crackle? It felt as if my body elongated. I looked down at my body and saw that it did, and that my hands had turned into claws. I quickly looked up at my hollow who smirked at me in mad glee, muttering something like "Oh boy, 'Kingy's first deliberate full hollow transformation!'

A ring of energy appeared around my feet and exploded into a smokescreen that enveloped my body in a cocoon of mingled energy and smoke, and worst of all, I temporarily blanked out due to the sudden pressure of the hollowfication, but could quite clearly see and react when the smokescreen dissipated.

As a late reaction to my transformation, pitch black energy with a crimson border started to explode around me, all stemming from my body, like a sea of vast power.

I looked around, widening my hollowfied, dark golden eyes as I laid them upon the sight of that energy, -my- energy, crawling all over this dimension and absorbing it, before ripping it to shreds and causing a gigantic explosion.

Due to the chaotic explosion, splinters and shards that were the only traces that remained of this once hyper-realistic dimension flew my way and caused me to flinch in shock, only to see them dissolve right before me.

"Hah!", I looked around at the direction of the sound and saw my hollow there, balancing on a pole without any effort, much like Old Man Zangetsu used to, "See? Was that so hard?", his voice echoed throughout my inner world, causing the sound of a shunpo nearby to slip past my ears.

"Well done, Ichigo. To your hollow, you may seem extremely soft or weak for not being able to conquer your fears for his powers, but this is a gigantic step", a voice from behind me commented, which forced me to turn around and look at Tensa Zangetu, who hovered silently in the air, with his arms across his chest, throwing me a soft, supportive smile.

My hollow sighed, "Tsk, that's bullshit, I think it's all well that he managed this, I just love to make fun of his sorry ass.", he smirked widely at me as I looked over my shoulder at him.

The sound of a sonido stabbed through the air as my hollow came to rest next to Tensa Zangetsu, which brought me back to the time when I first performed Jinzen and they seemed to cooperate so well.

Once more, to my irritation, I turned around to face the both of them now, raising a hand closer to my face and investigating it, noticing my pitch black claws and the plate-like ridges over the rest of my fingers, surprised with how I actually assumed such a grotesque visage.

Tensa Zangetsu frowned solemnly at me as he called my name, "Ichigo, we wish we could train you and make you more efficient at using both our powers, but you have no time to waste. I am afraid you will have to gauge and learn how to use our powers in the field of battle once more. Go, Ichigo, hurry!"

My eyes widened, but I had no time to react because my body dissolved at a rapid pace and I was literally kicked out of my own inner world.

In the end, I turned into a dot and disappeared. It all became black..

"Oi, do you think Kingy'll be fine?"

"..."

"... Yeah..he's _Ichigo_.."

My eyes broke open, and I saw the familiar buildings of Karakura Town around me, which made me blink a few times in disbelief.

Suddenly, memories flooded my mind and I recalled everything that went on before my little trip into my inner world. _Go, Ichigo! You have no time to waste! The Soul Society is in danger!_

My eyes widened and from those thoughts sprung a few more, _Rukia! Renji!_

I adjusted my position and bowed through my knees before launching myself out of the air, in the direction of my house, holding my arms back while my bankai garb and sword slowly dissolved and turned into their traditional ones, the handle of my shikai coming to rest in my grasp by the time I had made it to the window and entered back through it, trying desperately to keep my calm.

As I came through the window, everyone seemed relieved and some-what smiled at me, welcoming me back.

Ishida was the first to ask me, "What took you, Kurosaki?", with a faint expression that hinted at concern. I knew that he had realized that Ivan wasn't a normal arrancar, I merely nodded faintly at the Quincy archer and turned to the rest of the group, sucking in a deep breath of air before wanting to tell them the news.

A weird, noisy sound blurted through my words right as I was about to explain the situation, and I turned towards the direction from which the sound originated, seeing that boy?.. or girl holding a cell phone with a wide, goofy smile while the companion of the young, unexperienced shinigami turned around stiffly and looked at the cell-phone with an expression that imitated a deer in headlights.

I had to stifle a brief chuckle before I told what seemed to be a young male shinigami to answer the call, after that I, I crossed my arms across my chest and looked expectantly at the boy, who had - in the meantime- gained a huge bulge protruding from where his eyebrow was supposed to be, with the female shinigami's clenched fist shaking.

"Yes? Yes, of course. Yes, yes, uhh.. yes! .. Oh.."

I quirked my right eyebrow, rather confused by the barrage of "yes"es.

"Yes.. I shall..What? No.. you can't be..", then the young shinigami's face slowly shifted into that of both sadness and inexplicable horror.

Aware of the situation, or well, aware of the sketchy version of the situation, I told the shinigami, whose name Inoue had whispered into my name a moment ago to say that "We are on our way."

Bar the two shinigami, the rest turned my way and seemed surprised and I sighed deeply,

"Just tell them we are on our way."


	5. Twisted Blade

**Hello there, I enjoyed writing this chapter very much so, and to me, it was kind of a writing spur, while to other writers, it might be a small chapter.**

**I hope I managed to keep the characters as in-character as I could and that the reading experience is enjoyable to you, because that's the reason I write. :)**

**From this chapter on, I'll start responding to reviews, just because I am highly grateful for them, and feel I don't get to show that.**

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><p><strong>Darisuchan: Yeah, cliffhangers, much like with Kubo himself, are my specialization, and I'll make sure to integrate more and more of them! Mu-ha-ha. But no, not really. I believe cliffhangers are great for suspense, but I'll try not to overdo it. As for the perspective change; yes, I agree. I can imagine that it would be really confusing, but I deliberately tried to center the last two chapters around Ichigo's feelings and his panic at knowing that Rukia might be in danger. He may not be conscious of his feelings for Rukia yet, but even as a close friend, the idea of losing her makes him go haywire in fear and anger. The next few chapters will be mostly in third-person view again, to widen the radius, so to speak. <strong>

**As for your ideas: Shh, a good writer doesn't spoil his plans. =)**

**Laughingspider: Yeah, fear my special bankai: It creates bankais, so don't get me riled up, or I'll use it! But nah.**

**Yeah, the story is a bit rougher and bumpier (a road) because I started where the manga left off, but as you can see, Kubo is already going in a different direction from mine, so this is as far as I can go. I will still integrate some highlights of the manga in the story itself of course, but I'll make sure it sticks to being my story and not an iteration of the manga in book form.**

**It actually makes me happy to hear(see) you say(write, ha-ha) that, because that means someone enjoys my stories, and while it may seem corny, it's really the truth that as long as a person -even if it may be a single one- enjoys a story of mine, it'll give me motivation to keep on writing.**

**The actual amount of reviews and faves are just a side-thing, as a matter of speaking.**

****

**So yeah, appreciated, and color me really happy. :)**

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><p><strong>Before I proceed to request reviews andor critique, I'd like to put a very special writer and story in the spotlight.**

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><p><strong>Most Ichiruki fans will probably know this story and its writer already, but I figured that she deserved the attention because to me, she's a genius writer and her story is extremely enjoyable and inspirational.<strong>

**I'm talking about Kurokuchiki, who is about a bazillion times a better author than I am and who puts a lot of work in creating and maintaining an enjoyable story for the fanfiction community that I'm sure non-bleach and non-Ichiruki fans may even enjoy.**

**The story is called 'Between Me and Thee' and it had me hooked from the very first chapter especially because the emotions in the story are so apparent and make for an impressive read.**

**/s/6430713/1/Between_Me_and_Thee, as a link to the story. Enjoy the story, and please give this great writer your reviews and possible favorites or eventual critique or just outright tell her how you enjoyed the story, in case you did read and enjoy the story, she'll appreciate it!**

**Thank you very much in advance!**

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><p><strong>Alright, now without further ado, please R&amp;R, your critique is wholeheartedly appreciated!<strong>

**Bleach or its characters are owned by Kubo Tite, and are in no way my creation.**

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><p>Yuki looked over at Ichigo while he continued to routinely rub the swollen bulge near his left brow, muttering a few soft 'ouch'-es to no one in particular, "The lieutenant of the first division, among many other shinigami has been killed. Do you.. do you really want to come, knowing that? I think things are going to be depressive.."<p>

The substitute shinigami's eyes narrowed, his mouth curling into a grim frown, his eyes revealing a scarred and wicked darkness to them, that Yuki hadn't expected.

"That's all the more reason why we should go."

Yuki turned his head away from Ichigo and looked over at his companion, whispering something along the lines of _"He scares me.."_.

Ichigo however heard and placed a hand atop the shinigami's left shoulder, squeezing it once. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you, so don't be afraid of me.", he said with a forced smile, closing his eyes to conceal the darkness that he knew shone in his eyes. "Please open a senkaimon for me, Yuki."

Ishida did however object. "Kurosaki.. do you really think it's a good idea to go to Soul Society after such an event?", he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Ishida, the least I could do there is pay my respects to the deceased shinigami."

The quincy archer nodded and sighed slightly, turning to Orihime and Chad, who had looked expectantly at him.

"Open the senkaimon, Yuki.", Ichigo concluded, resolve flickering in his eyes.

With a nod, the small effeminate male shinigami unsheathed his zanpakuto and stabbed it in the empty air before turning it in a motion that seemed to gesture that he was going to open a lock.

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><p>Many captains and their respective lieutenants were gathered all around, not lined up or organized in any form or manner, and the Captain-Commander's presence was lacking too.<p>

In the distance, three squads had however lined up. They were the fourth, sixth and eleventh squad, with their captains standing in front of them. A stray lieutenant was standing near the captain of the sixth squad, it was the lieutenant of the thirteenth division, Kuchiki Rukia.

"I have been told by the Captain Commander to perform a damage report of my squad, so I expect all of you to make your presence clear in the most sophisticated manner possible. I also expect you to report it, if a friend, family member or acquaintance of yours that was or is also a part of this squad is now deceased or heavily wounded.", Kuchiki Byakuya informed his squad with a tone that lacked any form of emotion whatsoever, which paired up nicely with his careless eyes.

Kuchiki Rukia looked up at her adoptive brother and smiled softly because she knew that deep inside, he cared very much about the loss suffered by any and all squads, and this is as close as he'd come to displaying his care.

Absent-mindedly, the petite lieutenant of the thirteenth squad reached for her left arm with her right hand, slowly stroking the first-degree burn wounds that spread randomly over parts of her entire arm, starting where the sleeve of her shihakusho had been torn off, along with the badge to prove that she was in fact a lieutenant of a squad.

"I will let you know that there is no shame to be had in loss, but I do warn you to be cautious from now on. These aren't opponents you are supposed to take on alone as a lieutenant, let alone as a shinigami that hasn't yet reached at least fourth seat.", Byakuya added, trying to set his gaze on every squad of his member at least once as he dragged it from left to right.

"These enemies are capable of manipulating condensed reishi and turn it into fire that can burn in any environment. On top of that, it is highly dangerous and I advise against trying your luck with this new invention of theirs."

The captain of the sixth squad laid a hand on the shoulder of his sister, trying to smile down solemnly at her before turning back to his squad. "As an example, I present Kuchiki Rukia, lieutenant of the thirteenth squad, who wasn't even been caught directly in the explosion, yet suffered burns to it, even if they may be minor."

Not far from the sixth squad was the eleventh, where their captain, Zaraki Kenpachi was doing the very same thing, in his own manner.

"Yo. Any of you pussies got hit or killed?"

Ikkaku, who was standing besides the captain vaguely remarked to correct his captain. "If anyone got killed, I doubt they will be able to tell you verbally.. captain.."

Kenpachi sternly turned around almost robotically, glaring at the bald third seat. "What was that? Don't be such a wise-ass, Ikkaku!"

Yumichika who caught the conversation from afar disrupted the one-sided bickering. "Captain. While I think that his way of telling you had no grace or beauty whatsoever, I do agree with the contents of his correction..".

A vein popped up on the captain's forehead. " 'the fuck? Get off my case, pretty-boy!"

Yumichika and Ikkaku both promptly sealed their mouths shut, and under different circumstances, the entire squad would be laughing their asses off at the whole event, but they all kept silent to make sure they survived.

A pink blob of hair appeared above Ikkaku's right shoulder before the entire face was seen. It was Yachiru, who now childishly slapped her hand to the smooth, hairless head of the third seat. "Yeah baldy! Get off his case, pinball-tan!".

Multiple veins popped up on Ikkaku's head and he looked down, shadow covering his eyes. It didn't help the case when the whole squad eventually could no longer hold it and burst out in boisterous laughter.

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><p>"Guys, I'll go ahead and hurry. You stick together. I need to make sure everyone's alright.", Ichigo told his friends before bending through his knees and leaping to a nearby roof of a building in the Seireitei, before his body narrowed and flashed away from sight, leaving a trail of dust in its wake.<p>

The quincy archer sighed deeply and looked over his shoulder at all the other people. "Typical Kurosaki. Well.. let's get going then..", Ishida said as he picked up the pace, with the rest following him.

Leaping over rooftops without any strain, Ichigo hurried to the innermost part of Seireitei, where he felt the reiatsu of many captains and their lieutenants. "Good.. I can feel _her_ reiatsu.."

Bending deeply through a single knee, he took a gigantic leap with speed. Looking around and watching the buildings flash by due to the abnormal speed.

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><p>"So. It has now been confirmed that my squad has suffered a total of seven losses? A mild amount, but a strong blow nevertheless. I apologise for my inability to protect my members from harm.", Byakuya told his own squad, the look in his eyes compensating where his tone failed to convey the sadness he felt.<p>

Rukia, who was still standing next to Byakuya nodded, her expression displaying sadness in their own way. Suddenly, she blinked a few times and looked over her shoulders before she fully turned around, looking up at the sky. _That reiatsu.._

Byakuya, who was caught in his apology finally realized that Rukia had turned and taken a step back to look at the sky. "What's wrong, Rukia?"

The lieutenant looked over her shoulder at her adoptive brother and gave him a soft smile. Somehow, the sudden reiatsu of which she knew the owner had cheered her up a bit, just by being there. "Ichigo is in Seireitei. He is approaching quickly."

Byakuya turned around now as well, throwing her a smile that was almost irrecognizable. The only reason it was seen was because Rukia had become an expert at spotting Byakuya's emotions. "Ahh. So that baffoon has caught on as well?", normally, Rukia'd have frowned, but the small smile had assured her that he didn't actually mean it.

Rukia smiled back at Byakuya, but that smile faded when she was able to read the smothering reiatsu of the approaching substitute shinigami better. It was especially because the young-mature shinigami was approaching that she could read the reiatsu better than a few moments before. _It's a slight change.. but there __**is**__ a change in his reiatsu..I don't recognize what it is exactly.. but it feels darker and more heavy than before. Almost like the reiatsu of an espada._

"Captain! Captain! I've found a member of our squad. He had a lot of nasty wounds and he's on the verge of death, but currently, members of the fourth squad that remain in the division's barracks are tending to him.", Abarai Renji, lieutenant of the sixth squad had said as he walked up to stand in front of his captain, which shook Rukia out of her thoughts.

Byakuya nodded to Renji, who then did the same to his captain and then turned to Rukia, pointing to her left arm which was still recovering from the burns. "How's your arm doing, Rukia?".

The petite shinigami threw the lieutenant of the sixth squad a soft smile. "It's doing fine, Renji. No need to worry."

Before Renji could ask any more, their conversation was interrupted by the head of the Kuchiki clan, who tapped his feet impatiently. "Good, Renji. Now, could you tell the captain of the fourth squad that I wish to visit that member. What is his name?"

Renji nodded and then put his hands to his chin at the question. "Ehm.. I believe it was Aronaki Rokanazo, captain."

Byakuya nodded. "Very well, please inform captain Unohana of my request.", at which Renji placed his hand to his head to salute before turning around and running off to find the captain of the fourth squad, who had finished her squad's damage report more than an hour ago and thusly had already left to aid the rest of her squad with their healing duties.

Byakuya turned to Rukia, who was once again glimpsing at the sky expectantly. He placed a hand on top of her head and stroked her hair slightly. "I appreciate the help you've given. However, does your captain not require your presence?"

Rukia looked over her shoulder at her adoptive brother and threw a lopsided smile. "No, nii-sama, captain Ukitake has told me to take a day off to have some rest. I did insist that I would stay, but he nearly forced me not to do anything today."

The elder Kuchiki frowned slightly, but nodded his head at the small lieutenant. "Then hurry. That brat will arrive very soon. It is your duty to receive the substitute shinigami and make sure he feels welcome."

Rukia raised an eyebrow, wondering if it was meant in an ironic manner, but the captain followed up on his command. "Hurry up, Kuchiki Rukia.". The lieutenant was still rather confused, but nodded at her brother and turned around to head in Ichigo's direction. "Yes, nii-sama."

As she was about to run off and find Ichigo, she was surprised when the aforementioned substitute shinigami appeared in front of her with a flash and a buzzing sound just when she turned around. "Ichigo!"

The bright-haired shinigami straightened his body with a soft, yet audible crackle, looking down at Rukia to smile at her and did the same for her brother, who was standing just slightly behind her. "Yo, Rukia, Byakuya."

The petite, raven-haired shinigami crossed her arms and smiled up warmly at the young-mature, tall 'Hero of the Winter War'.

A bemused Byakuya however broke the calm silence. "I see.. I must have forgotten about granting you permission to call me by my first name, kid.", the captain proclaimed, with a tone of sarcasm that almost stung.

"Tsk!", Ichigo spat out as he dragged his head to the side, his eyes narrowing in restrained irritation.

Byakuya's frown turned into a grin, surprisingly enough. "Ahh, your brains have developed. You are actually capable of realizing whether a tone is sarcastic or not.", he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm once more, attempting to lure out a response from the substitute shinigami.

Rukia smirked as she glanced up at Ichigo, her arms still folded across her chest. She tried to force back a chuckle.

Ichigo merely groaned at the repeated insults, moving a hand to the back of his head and scratching the wild, spiky orange hair. "Nice to see you again, Captain Kuchiki, Lieutenant Kuchiki.", he said, intentionally emphasizing the part in which he mentioned their names and titles.

Rukia frowned at Ichigo, wondering just why she had to be pulled into this silly verbal assertion of dominance.

The captain of the sixth squad followed up however with a gesture that implied "hurry up now" in the direction of his adoptive sister, which broke the arguing between the two.

The younger Kuchiki nodded and took hold of Ichigo's hand, trying to lead him away. "Whu? Wait, hu- see you, Byakuya!", he yelled, waving his other hand as he was guided away from the captain of the sixth squad who promptly turned round to address his squad, thinking to himself. "_That man.."._

The lieutenant dragged the substitute shinigami through various pathways and streets, almost tripping a few times. "Calm down, calm down. Oi, midget!".

Rukia finally stopped but not for the good reason. She turned to Ichigo and glared at him. "Ichigo.. I told you to..".

Ichigo waved her anger off with his right hand, smirking at the female. He loved to make fun of her height. Finally, he managed to ask Rukia something that's been nagging him. "What happened to you arm, Rukia?".

Rukia calmed down and glanced at her left arm. "Oh, I'm sure you heard already. After all, you have seen most of the captains and their squads standing there-".

Ichigo once more waved his hand and nodded. "Yeah-yeah, I know about 'them'. What happened to your arm, though? It's a burn wound. By the way..", Ichigo looked down at his own arm and noticed that she was still holding his hand and he turned slightly red at that. "- you can stop holding my hand now.", he added, grinning sheepishly to cover up his own blush.

Rukia turned red and immediately let go of Ichigo's hand, turning around on her heels swiftly. "Sorry. I didn't realize.", she stated, trying to act as if something strange was in the sky to excuse the fact that she promptly turned around to avoid having to face Ichigo.

"By the way.. eh.. Chad, Inoue and Ishida are coming as well. Oh, and two odd shinigami that replaced Imoyama-san.", the substitute shinigami said with a nod to affirm his statement, having already forgotten the names of the two presumably unranked shinigami that he saved.

The petite shinigami looked back at Ichigo and smiled gently. "You really know how to keep changing subject.", she said as her smile turned into a smirk. "I was caught in the explosion of condensed reiatsu fire which is the entire reason for those wounds. Don't worry, they're minor as you can see. More importantly.. do you think they will be able to find us?"

Ichigo smirked widely and nodded. "They have Ishida with them. Let's go.". Ichigo raised a hand and placed it atop Rukia's right shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. "I'll make sure Inoue treats those wounds though."

Rukia smiled and looked down at the ground. "Yeah. Let's go. Follow me."

Ichigo nodded and followed Rukia who sprinted off in the direction of the thirteenth squad barracks.

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><p>"I see.. Ivan.. died", a voice echoed softly through the bland, yet spacy room. "You have done your job well, Luders. And now you too get to become a foundation stone that works to create and build the divine steps to peace."<p>

Luders Friegen's eyes widened but before he could make any movement, his body fell down on the ground and his head was separated from it, the corpse coming to rest on the floor much like the arm that had already been torn off, laying in a pool of its own blood.

The apparent leader of the invasion group called 'The Vandenreich' smirked, placing his chin in the palm of his hand while the elbow was planted on one armrest.

"Fret not, Luders. You too shall be a crucial part leading up to complete peace."

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><p>Ichigo looked around the barracks of the thirteenth squad while he walked through the halls, surprised by how clean and well-kept everything was.<p>

"It all looks so normal and not pink.. or filled with little bunnies.", Ichigo remarked. "You'd almost start thinking you weren't a lieutenant of this squad at all, Rukia.".

The lieutenant to which the substitute referred suddenly froze and looked over her shoulder, both of her hands shaking in irritation, trying to keep herself from harming Ichigo. "Oh, I'm sorry, Kurosaki-san, I didn't realize you were talking to me!", Rukia replied with _that _tone. She was playing the same role again, the one she played when she entered Ichigo's school. The substitute shinigami cringed at the act and decided to just continue walking.

Rukia finally walked after him, concluding that it had been enough, her lips curling into a wide smirk.

"Rukia.", Ichigo called to the female that trailed after him. "What's the plan? The enemies are apparently gone now."

The raven-haired shinigami passed by Ichigo and finally entered a room, with Ichigo following her. Removing the oversized meat-cleaver from his back and setting it against a wall as he sat down when Rukia offered him to sit down on a chair across from her.

"So.. spit it out, midget.", Ichigo told Rukia, who gave him a firm kick to the shin.

"Owch! 'the fuck, Rukia?", Ichigo howled, grabbing on to his shin and rubbing at the skin.

"That's for calling me a midget, you asshole!", Rukia exclaimed towards the bright-haired substitute shinigami, shaking her fist angrily.

Ichigo sighed but then smirked at the angered lieutenant. "Jeez.. gh.. fine, fine.. just tell me already."

Rukia calmed down and looked down at the table, placing her hands on them and entwining her fingers together, unable to keep them still. "I guess you've heard already. Many shinigami perished, and among them the lieutenant of the first squad. The Captain-Commander is actively mourning the loss, but however told us to get in gear, as this group.. this so-called 'Vandenreich' has declared war on Soul Society and will attack in five days from now. All captains are doing a damage-check and are trying to train their members as well as themselves. You know, the usual. War preparation.".

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the news, their spark dimming out a bit. "Oh.. when is the funeral, Rukia?", he asked, trying to look the petite shinigami in front of him in the eyes.

"At night time. Five hours from now.", Rukia said, her eyes locking on Ichigo, while she actually wanted to avert her gaze from them. It was however, like some kind of magnetic pull held them there, the pull of his compassion.

"I'm sorry to hear all of this..", Ichigo said, reaching over to place a hand atop Rukia's shoulder, once more giving it a firm squeeze.

The lieutenant looked up at Ichigo and forced a small smile on her face. "I know you are, Ichigo. Don't worry about it."

Ichigo let go of the raven-haired female's shoulder and retracted his arm. "So.. I guess you are going to train as well?"

Rukia nodded softly, the smile fading from her lips.

"Don't worry, Rukia.. it'll all be alright.", Ichigo said, in a way that made it seem more like a statement and fact, his eyes softening up. Rukia wondered how he could always be so confident.

"Jeez.. you fool.. I wish I had at least a quarter of your confidence..", Rukia mumbled, causing Ichigo to widen his eyes in surprise.

The substitute remembered how he had been back in fake Karakura Town, when the Hogyoku had started to augment the powers of Sosuke Aizen.

"Nah.. I'm not confident when I have no reason to..", he smiled softly at Rukia, who felt the power overflowing. Flowing into her from just the resolve in his eyes. Oddly, she could swear she saw a tinge of light blue burning in his chocolate-colored, brown eyes.

"Rukia.. I want to train with you.", Ichigo promptly said, breaking the tranquil silence and causing the adopted Kuchiki to blink five times in a row. "You what?"

"Yeah, I thought it'd be nice to spar or train with you some time. Without bankai of course, unless you want that."

Rukia suddenly smiled. "Silly, you don't have to do that. I'll only hold you back, hero-sama.", replied after a few short moments of contemplation. Her smile contorted into a mischievous grin when she called him "hero-sama", thinking she'd tease him by calling him that.

Ichigo's cheeks lit up at the title, but not enough for the oblivious Kuchiki to spot it. "Of course you don't hold me back, you foolish midget! You're really strong! If anything, you'll kick my ass!"

Rukia, surprising herself, giggled at that, placing a few fingers to her chin. "I wonder if I should 'kick your ass' for calling me a midget, or spare you from the humiliation of getting your ass thrown around seireitei and beaten!".

Ichigo turned beet red at that. "Rukia.. could you please not refer to it as 'beating my ass' and instead as 'kicking my ass'?"

The petite shinigami raised a brow in confusion for a moment, before she realized his implications. "You filthy, perverted, hormonal thing!", she exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the bright-haired shinigami, whose face was even brighter than his fiery hair by now.

"N.. no I'm not! Shut up!", Ichigo hollered back at the female, growling at her.

The arguably young Kuchiki folded her arms across her chest with a wide grin. "Or else what? You'll 'beat my ass'?"

The substitute shinigami groaned and slapped his hands to his face, trying to cover up the haze of crimson that spread over it even now. "Stop it! Shut up!"

Rukia now realized what she had implied without thinking too much about it before actually blurting it out and would've turned pale and bleak by now, but in the stead of bleakness, a red complexion overtook most of her face, painting her cheeks. The lieutenant quickly and conveniently turned her head away.

The bright-haired young adult noticed her blush, whilst his own faded away. He seized the opportunity to mock her now, snickering wildly, before his snickering turned into a chuckle and eventually complete laughter.

"Ha-ha-ha! You should see your face! What a dumbass you are!", the substitute shinigami exclaimed loudly, now repaying the favor by pointing a finger at the embarassed raven-haired shinigami.

"S-shut up, fool..", Rukia meekly said, attempting to demand that Ichigo stopped, but failing miserably.

Ichigo's laughter was cut off abruptly when Ishida arrived. "Finally.. I thought you were being killed, Kurosak- .."

Ishida's glance went from Ichigo to Rukia and back again. ".. Okay.. what were you guys doing?", he inquired as he pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. While he was still gazing at the two and their red faces, he failed to notice that he was joined by two other people: Chad and Orihime.

After an uncomfortable silence by the two, tortured by the unending gazes of the three that had just entered, they finally snapped and yelled at them. "We were doing nothing at all!", trying to convince them that nothing happened. "And why doesn't anyone ever knock?", they both added, much like their first outburst, also nearly synchronized.

"Well..", Ishida replied, sticking out his clenched and placing a finger on his index finger, which arched inwards into the palm. Ishida then removed the finger and stuck out the index finger. "First of all, there was no door to knock on..".

Then Ishida stuck out his middle finger as well as his index finger to indicate a second point. "Second of all.."

Orihime promptly silenced Ishida by chiming in. "Kurosaki-kun, you were making weird sounds, so we thought someone may have been busy killing you!"

Ishida and Chad both closed their eyes and nodded their heads in agreement at Orihime, folding their arms. "Yes.."

Unlike Rukia, Ichigo saw the humor in their points and started chuckling and eventually laughing again. Ishida's eyes narrowed inquisitively.

"There you have that sound again", both Chad and Ishida said, now nodding their heads to themselves.

A vein popped up on Ichigo's head and his face contorted into a frown, growling through his closed lips. "What the hell?"

Rukia finally turned to the group, the crimson complexion having faded away by now as she started giggling at Ichigo's angered response.

Ichigo turned to Rukia and shot her a fake glare. "What are giggling at, you garden gnome!", he growled through his teeth, raising a fist and shaking it angrily at Rukia, who suddenly pounced the substitute shinigami and punched his shoulder angrily.

"Ow-fuck, you fucking shrimp! I'll get you!", Ichigo yelled in the lieutenant's face, who suddenly donned a sadistic smirk before she placed both of her hands on Ichigo's sides and started tickling him.

"Ooh-aa-, eagh-oahahaha, stop, stop!", Ichigo screamed, kicking around and trying to escape from the raven-haired female's grasp. "I can't breathe - stop, I CAN'T breathe!"

Rukia, who sat ontop of Ichigo's chest and actively continued to tickle the bright haired shinigami without a care in the world was disturbed by Orihime's concerned cries. "Rukia, Rukia, stop! You're killing Kurosaki-kun!"

Letting out a relieved sigh and praising Orihime for interrupting Rukia, Ichigo plopped his head back down on the ground, completely spent.

Chad remained silent and Ishida did so too, for a few moments, but pushed his glassed back to the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Yeah.. next time, hire a room for your lovey-dovey stuff.."

By now, Ichigo would have scolded Ishida, but he was still trying to regain a proper breathing rhythm as he in- and -exhaled a lot faster than usual, his chest heaving up and down. "_Rukia, I trust you to handle this one..", _he thought to himself.

The petite shinigami looked down at Ichigo with a wide grin, apparently completely ignoring whatever Ishida said. With a huff, she gave the bright haired young adult another punch on the same shoulder, prompting him to howl out in pain. "Ow-oow, you bitch..", Ichigo growled once more, scowling at the female who seemed impervious to his scary faces.

Chad looked disapprovingly at Ichigo and stuck his hand up. "I don't believe Kuchiki-san is a female dog."

The raven-haired female looked up at Chad, smiling and nodding before turning back to look down at Ichigo from her spot on top of his chest, smirking widely at the substitute shinigami, who smacked both of his fists to the floor angrily. "You know very well that that's not what I meant!"

The perpetrator herself smirked down at Ichigo once more, but her smirk slowly turned back into a smile as she got off of the young shinigami, offering her hand to him. "Come on, you big dummy.".

Ichigo however moved his head to the side and huffed, having his pride stepped on by getting beaten by the midget.

"Well? Will you admit defeat and consider peace, or do I have to help you?", Rukia asked rhetorically, grinning down at Ichigo who finally took hold of her small hand, using it to pull himself up from the ground. "Ugh.. this one time.."

"Come on, Ichigo, get yourself back in gear, we need to make sure we get clothes to look presentable at the funeral.", Rukia said with a short nod to herself, looking at the small group in front of her. "Are you coming too?".

Ichigo answered Rukia's question, still trying to regain himself. "Of course they are.", he stated, scratching the back of his head idly.

The petite, raven-haired female looked over her shoulder and smiled, nodding her head again. "All right, then let's get going.

Chad and Orihime nodded and followed Rukia out of the room, and Ishida remained a few moments, to stare at Ichigo before he too turned around, trying to walk out of the room.

"Ishida, can I talk to you?", Ichigo asked the quincy archer - who froze at his question - as he walked over to the door and yelled at Rukia, who was already walking out of the barracks pretty hastily, accompanied by Chad and Orihime.

"I need to have a talk with Ishida, we'll be with you soon enough.. leprechaun!", Ichigo yelled, his lips curling into a wide grin as he heard the angered groan that the lieutenant spat out, even from afar.

Ishida turned to Ichigo, who now walked back and sat on the table, folding his arms across his chest. "You really need to stop insulting Kuchiki-san like that..", Ishida stated, walking closer to Ichigo, looking down at him. "Now what did you want to talk about?".

Ichigo briefly averted his gaze before returning it to Ishida's. "Where do your allegiances lie, Ishida?".

The quincy archer's eyes widened behind his clean glasses. "What do you mean?".

Ichigo's eyes narrowed in seriousness as he looked back at Ishida. "Don't think I haven't realized it, Ishida.".

"These enemies are Quincy.".

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it. Things will become darker soon enough, much like in the manga, with excessive bloodshed. If I need to, I shall change the age rating to -M-, but I am not sure if I need to.<strong>

**Have a nice day and see you soon!**


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